-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Abdul Aziz believes he was standing right next to a shooter Sunday when gunmen opened fire at a Mother 's Day parade in New Orleans , injuring 19 people .

`` Everyone around me , except me , was shot , '' he said . `` I was pretty fortunate to get away . ''

Aziz , 33 , a photojournalist , was at the second-line parade when gunfire broke out at the corner of Frenchman Street and North Villere Street .

Second-line parades , which involve dancing and brass bands , are a New Orleans tradition . They happen most every Sunday , except during the hottest months in summer , according to Aziz .

`` We turned off of a main thoroughfare to a smaller residential street , and that 's when the shots rang out . I was standing , I believe , right next to the shooter . I saw muzzle flash , but unfortunately I did n't get a chance to see who the shooter was , '' he said .

People panicked and ran .

Aziz , who has worked in the Middle East , started taking pictures .

He sent those images to CNN iReport .

`` It 's a little jarring when you see these types of things on the home front , '' he said .

`` I 'm sad . I love this city . We 're plagued by crime , and it 's just not getting better no matter what we do . ''

According to police , 19 people were injured in the shooting , including two children . Ten men and seven women were among the victims .

The children suffered graze wounds . Other injuries ranged from minor to severe .

Shots were fired from different guns , and officers saw three suspects running from the scene , police said .

One of the suspects was described as an African-American male , approximately 18 to 22 years old , wearing a white T-shirt and blue jean shorts .

No one is in custody .

`` This is an extremely unusual occurrence , and we 're confident that we will make swift arrests , '' said Remi Braden , a police spokeswoman .

Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas told CNN affiliate WVUE that it appears `` two or three people just , for a reason unknown to us , started shooting at , towards , or in the crowd . ''

He asked anyone with information to call authorities .

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu echoed that request , challenging the community to get involved .

`` It 's important for us , as I have said , to change the culture of death on the streets of New Orleans to a culture of life , and it 's going to take an all-hands-on-deck approach , '' he said .

`` These kinds of incidents are not going to go unanswered . We 're going to be very , very aggressive . There were hundreds of people out there today , so somebody knows who did this . ''

CNN 's Jennifer Moore , Janet DiGiacomo and Jareen Imam contributed to this report .

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`` These kinds of incidents are not going to go unanswered , '' the mayor says

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Officers saw three suspects running from the scene

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Two children are among the victims

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`` Everyone around me , except me , was shot , '' says a CNN iReporter